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Abbott to thank Dutch for MH17 role

Tony Abbott will visit The Hague on Monday to formally thank Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte for his country's role in retrieving victims' bodies from the MH17 crash site.

The prime minister will also meet some of the 500 Australian police, military and consular staff involved in the operation to recover and identify the remains of the 38 Australian citizens and residents who died when the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17.

Mr Abbott left for the Netherlands on Saturday night, accompanied by Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus and Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin.

During his stay at The Hague he will also receive updates on the search and victim identification efforts, and sign a condolence book for Dutch victims.

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Forensic experts in Holland have now identified a total of 65 victims of the MH17 tragedy, which claimed the lives of 298 people.

But Mr Abbott has warned it is "regretfully and of necessity" a very slow process.

The last of the Dutch, Australian and Malaysian investigators returned to the Netherlands over the weekend after calling off their search amid escalating fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces.

Mr Abbott will fly from the Netherlands to London for talks with the British government and officials about counter-terrorism operations and the deteriorating situation in Iraq.